Question 1

How do I buy your products?

Accepted Answer

The products are displayed on our website for information purposes only. If you would like to purchase any products, please Email info@sustainableafricaco.com. In time we do hope to offer a full ecommerce experience.

Question 2

What areas to you operate?

Accepted Answer

We currently have an office in Zimbabwe. We may also be able to facilitate deliveries to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia.

Question 3

Are your products freezer safe?

Accepted Answer

Paper and Sugarcane products are safe to go in the freezer however we recommend that these products are not store in the freezer for an extended period of time. PLA should not go into the freezer as it will become brittle and break.

Question 4

Are your products oven/ microwave safe?

Accepted Answer

Sugarcane products are safe to go into the microwave and oven to up 200 degrees

Question 5

What’s the difference between Biodegradable and Compostable?

Accepted Answer

“Biodegradable” simply means something will be broken down by microbes over time, which is true for most materials on the planet. An aluminum can is “biodegradable”… if you wait 200 years. Since this term applies to almost everything, it is a pretty meaningless claim and one that has been significantly abused through greenwashing. In contrast, “compostable” means something will break down in a reasonable amount of time, leave behind no toxic residue, and safely become an additive to soil.

Question 6

Your products are certified by the BPI – what does that mean?

Accepted Answer

The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) uses scientifically based standards to determine if a product is compostable in a commercial facility, so look for the words "BPI Certified" on our products and you can be confident that your product will break down quickly in a commercial facility.

Question 7

Can I put your compostable products into my backyard compost?

Accepted Answer

Our Bagasse/ Sugarcane products will generally be able to breakdown in home composting, however we cannot give a guarantee on timescale.

We recommend disposing of PLA products in a commercial compost facility where they can be broken down, turned into compost and then returned to the soil. Home composting typically does not create the consistent composting conditions needed for these products, but commercial facilities can manage just fine.

Question 8

Where are the nearest commercial composting facilities to me?

Accepted Answer

If you are resident in South Africa please use this website https://www.mywaste.co.za/web/index.asp to find your nearest organic waste facility. As our products are so new not all of these facilities will accept compostable packing, so it’s worth checking with your nearest facility first.

In Zimbabwe, we are currently working with a few industrial composting facilities to test our products and should be able to provide more information on this soon.

Question 9

What should I do if there isn’t an industrial composting facility near me?

Accepted Answer

Many organizations and communities are setting up their own private composting facilities. This works particularly well in office blocks, hotels, hospitals, universities or anywhere that there is a controlled environment – it takes care of food waste disposal costs as well as providing compost for your grounds or to sell on to. Diverting one tonne of food waste through composting can reduce greenhouse gases by approximately one tonne Co2 that would have been released if it went to landfill.  If you would like more information on how to do this, we can put you in touch with the relevant specialists.

In the absence of industrial composting, our products should be discarded in general waste, however even if our products end up in landfill, they will emit up to 75% less greenhouse cases that PET.

Question 10

Why should I buy your product if there isn’t a composting facility that will accept my waste?

Accepted Answer

The environmental benefits to compostable products are much more than just end of life composting. 
 
Finite Resources
The earth has finite resources. Disposables are used for such a short time, so it makes sense to switch to renewable materials, reserving conventional plastics for applications where they can’t be easily replaced. Our products are made from renewable resources such as corn and sugar cane rather than crude oil and natural gas.
BP’s estimates put the remaining Oil supplies at about 50 years although if we are to hit our carbon budget it is estimated that we need to leave between 75-80% of these reserves untouched!
Carbon Footprint 
Bioplastic offers a significantly reduced carbon footprint versus traditional oil-based plastics. This is because the plants used to make the bioplastic absorb as much CO2 as they release. Traditional plastic on the other hand releases CO2 that would otherwise have been trapped underground in the Crude oil.

A 2017 study determined that switching from traditional plastic to corn-based PLA would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent [5]
Less Toxicity

Bioplastic is also less toxic and does not contain bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone disrupter that is often found in traditional plastics [4]  
Better Energy Generation 
Incineration studies from NatureWorks [1], show that their PLA bioplastic produces more heat than newspaper, wood or food waste; also that it produces no volatile gases and leaves little residue. 
Reduced Greenhouse Gases
In landfill, studies have shown that compostable packaging is inert and does not give off methane.[2] PLA bioplastic gives off 75% lower greenhouse gas emissions than PET, even if both end up in landfill. [3]

[1] https://www.natureworksllc.com/What-is-Ingeo/Where-it-Goes/Incineration
[2] https://www.natureworksllc.com/What-is-Ingeo/Where-it-Goes/Landfill
[3] http://floreon.com/resources/articles/bioplastics
[4] https://phys.org/news/2017-12-truth-bioplastics.html
[5]  https://phys.org/news/2017-12-truth-bioplastics.html#jCp

Frequently asked questions